I'm just rolling up my sleeves to start loading some '06 rounds, 165 gr and 180 gr, and it seems these two powders are pretty popular.
Wonder if anyone out there can tell me a reason to pick one over the other to start with, or even suggest a different powder.
(Varget, for instance?)

Thanks for any advice.
While you're hear, whose primers, and why?
Can't find much info on that.

youngun; IMR 4350 and the Reloder 19 are both excellent for the purposes you have in mind. Another one worth examining if you have access is Vihtavuori N-160. Two of my three '06 rifles prefer this powder behind the 165 Partition. I shot 3 groups [3 shots] at 200 meters a couple of days ago with this combination. The best group was 1" the worst 1.3" I believe Varget is a tad "fast" for best performance velocity wise, but if you are willing to sacrifice a little speed, you might find it delivers good accuracy, but I cannot say that from personal experience. I use Varget in the 300 Savage, the 22-250 and the 220 Swift. Regards, Eagleye.

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My absolute favorite '06 load is 58.5grs IMR-4350 behind Nosler Partition or Hornady Interlocks. In my rifles this load is super accurate with plenty of velocity. However in the newer loading manuals this load is just over max, in some manuals it is 1.5grs over in other .5 over. . Its always been fine in my rifles but work them up for yours. AA3100 worked very well for me in the 180 gr bullet as well ad H-4831SC.

Thanks guys.
As some of us may have read elsewhere, I've got a bunch of Grand Slams from Speer.
I gues they're fairly new/expensive, so I can't find any load data made with them.
Can I relate it to loads with the same brass/primer/powder, but a different non-BT spitzer?

Can I relate it to loads with the same brass/primer/powder, but a different non-BT spitzer?

Several years ago, my hunting pal Doug Smith placed a good-size order with Midway, which included a bunch of new Winchester '06 brass and about a thousand Remington 165 CoreLokt PSP bullets. I had misgivings about this, as I had agreed to pay half the cost.

I had been using Sierra 165 BTHPs for years, with IMR 4064 powder, and was well satisfied with theie performance in my Ruger 77R. Doug came up with a load of 58.0 gr. of IMR 4350 with the CoreLokts. In a word, the accuracy was outstanding, in both our rifles. The real benefits of a boat tail bullet are not realized until well beyond 300 yards, and the flat based bullets did all asked of them. Our game was almost exclusively Texas White tails and wild hogs, neither of which demanded super custom bullets. The Remington bullets are available tin bulk and are quite reasonably priced.

The only drawback of the FB bullets was that they are a bit more ticklish to load on the Dillon 550. That was another lesson I learned with these bullets. Doug set up the loader for .30-06 and the mass produced cartridges were within under a half-inch of the accuracy of the one-at-a-time items. This was my first experience with thrown rifle powder charges.

Caution - - - As Cain R noted above--Thsi is right at max for 4350 in the '06--and a touch over in some manuals. as always, it is okay in MY rifles--and a couple of others--but might be too hot in YOURS. please, start a bit lower and work up.

Best,
Johnny

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Remember, when translating loads for BT bullets to like-weight flat-based bullets, that there is often (usually? Always?) more bearing surface on the "driving band" of the bullet, and therefore likely to be (slightly? significant?) increased pressures. I Think (tm) that it would thus behoove one, who has a max load for BT bullets to back of just a hair when loading the same weight flat based bullet.

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